By Appolos Christian
Nigerian philanthropist and advocate of eradication of malaria in Africa, and former member of the House of Representatives, Prince Ned Nwoko, on Thursday, raised the alarm over alleged conspiracy to assassinate him.
Nwoko who represented Aniocha North/South and Oshimili North/South between 1999 and 2003, at a press briefing alongside his wife and Nollywood actress, Regina Daniels, made the claims.
He said that the assassination plot had a connection with a piece of land in his community in Delta, where he was building a university.
He also stated that a tussle about who becomes the next traditional ruler of his community was also another significant factor.
He however stated that the traditional stool issue had been settled by the elders of the land, adding that they also gave their consent to the allocation of the land, but wondered why some people still feel his life must be snuffed out.
The matter, Nwoko said had since been reported to the police who are investigating the matter.
According to Nwoko, the assassination plot was exposed by one Mr. Ossy Bosah, who was serving a jail term at the Kuje Prison in Abuja.
The former federal lawmaker said that Bosah was got wind of the plot from fellow prison inmates.
Following the exposition of the plot, Nwoko said that Bosah’s life was threatened via text messages, regretting that shortly after he was released from the prison, he died mysteriously.
According to him, an autopsy was being carried out to ascertain the cause of Bosah’s death.
He said, ”Bosah was able to get the information on social media and the attention of my wife, Regina was drawn to it.
“I then reported the matter to the police and Department of State Security (DSS) and they went and interviewed the inmates involved. “The inmates mentioned the name of one businessman who deals in the oil and gas sector as the mastermind.”
Speaking about the university, the Delta State born billionaire said that the building is at 95 percent completion.
Lending his voice to the clamour for rotational presidency ahead of the 2023 election, Nwoko said that wbecomes mes the president was not the problem, but who would fix the economy.
While describing President Muhammadu Buhari as an honest man who was trying his best develop Nigeria, Nwoko added that that the economy had remained in dire straits.
He regretted that Buhari became president at old age.
“I admire the current president Muhammad Buhari because I like honesty. I love honesty and he is an honest man, yes age may not be on his side, yes health might be a challenge because we all have such challenges.
“If he became an elected President in his 40s, I am sure there would have been a lot of difference. You know what he did when he was head of state.
“So it is not just about the President or head of State being honest person everybody around him must have to key in and deliver for the interest of the people.
“So the economy is bad, this is not to say it is the fault of this government but it is the fault of the system. We are lucky to have a good country geographically with a beautiful weather, good arable land, we can farm all year round, we produce everything here.
“We just need to address the economy properly and you will see the difference. In UK, a graduate or artisan that gets a job after three months salary with a mortgage financing, they are more likely to stay on their jobs for 15 to 20 years so they become disciplined they don’t want to lose those jobs because they might be in trouble over the mortgage.
“So it pays them to remain honest and work harder. But there they have a clear vision of what life holds for them, here there is no clear vision everybody is roaming around in circles and this is not good.”
“So time will come when people must decide to choose the right leadership that will give them good governance.
“The banks are not functioning, there are so mortgage, the insurance companies.the sector is dead, the stock exchange is there ceremoniously.
“People should be able to get a mortgage from the bank for House cars that are commensurate with your income.
“You should be able to get finance to buy a car, everything about the economy is wrong in Nigeria so until the bank revisit the fiscal sector is the biggest problem we have in Nigeria.
“Any government that commits itself to these sector he will bring a lot of progress to Nigeria. In fact these areas alone can employ not less than 10million Nigerians withing two years if properly managed.
“The banks can not on their own be charging interest rates of 14% and even more. Government has to come in and regulate them and fix interest rates and it is a very simple thing to do.
“Government should be able to have a task force that would deal with this sector. Once it is done you will see the economy growing, practically all Houses in Nigeria are built and bought by cash.
“That cash is not helping anybody. That cash is just sunk in there. The cash is not part of the economy. You the owner of the house can not use it to borrow money or get facility, take this house and give me facility.
“Abroad everybody goes on holiday those who cannot afford it take financing from the bank to go on holiday when you come back over six months you pay. So this sector, the fiscal sector should be the driving force for the economy.
“When people are gainfully employed they become responsible citizens, we talk about book harm, bandits, kidnappers, herdsmen, look the fact is that these people did not chose to become those things because they love it, it is principally because of the economy, the frustration they feel.
“The pain and the bitterness they feel. There is urgent need for the Government to be focused on the economy.
“When the economy is good, when people are gainfully employed receiving proper salaries they will be more law abiding, crime rate will fall, crime will reduce and things will work out well.
“A few times I had interviews with CNN they paid me for appearing on their TV channel but in Nigeria it is not like that as the reverse is the case. It is because of the economy, if the economy were good and every one of will be earning N5m every month it would have been more honorable.
”We need small businesses to access to finance, we need people to have access to jobs and descent accommodation. If citizens are comfortable and properly engaged, crime rate will reduce and insecurity would end. The banks needs to be functional and responsive and the insurance and Mortgage sub-sectors needed to be more people oriented. A part of the profits made by banks should be given back to the small businesses as loans.”
